Chipper



Nov. 26,1929. w. J. MERKEL ET AL 1,736,858

' CHIPPER Filed. Oct. 23. 1922 Patented Nov. 26, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM J. MERKEL, ,OF SHOREWOOD, AND ERNEST C. SHAW, OI MILWAUKEE, WIS- CONSIN; SAID SHAW,ASSIGNOR TO ALLIS-CHALMERS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE GHIPIER Application filed October 23,

This invention relates in general to improvements in the construction and operation of disintegrating apparatus for reducing substances such as wood to relatively small chips of substantially uniform size and of proper shape.

An object of the invention is to produce a chipping machine which is simple and compact in construction and eflicient in opera- It is desirable in the production of paper pulp from wood fiber and the like, to have the wood reduced to relatively small chips of substantially uniform size and of proper 5'shape for treatment in the digesters. The wood frequently used for this purpose is waste material from a saw-mill being in the form of slabs, edgings, trimmings, or strips of various lengths width and thickness and it is desirable in order to reduce the waste of such material to a minimum, to reduce as much as possible of the slabs to chips of the desired uniform size and proper shape.

With the prior chippers the waste of material was enormous either due to the fact'that the wood was not reduced to chips of the desired uniform size and shape, or due to the fact that the chipping machines could not operate efficiently upon the slab ends when these be gocame relatively short in length.

The present invention contemplates provision of a chipping machine which will effectively reduce the material to the required uniform size and shape of chips with mini- -mum resultant waste'of material. The invention also contemplates simplification in the construction and operation of machines of this type. The various elements of machines embodying the present invention are thoroughly protected with suitable guards and are readily accessible for inspection, removal or adjustment. Machines embodying the present invention are entirely automatic in operation and are operable with minimum power and attention. These and other obj ects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent in the course of the following description.

. A clear conception of an embodiment of the invention and of the operation of a ma- 1922. Serial No. 596,200.

chine constructed. in accordance therewith may be had by referring to the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts in the several views.

Fig. l is a top View of an improved chipping machine.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section through the machine while operating upon a relatively thin slab of material.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic longitudinal vertical sectional view through the chipping machine, operating upon a relatively thick slab of material.

The improved chipping machine comprises 1n general a stationary main frame 10, a horizontal shaft 2 rotatably supported in bearings 20 associated with the main frame 10, a rotor 8 secured to and rotatable with the shaft 2, a plurality of adjustable cutters or blades 4: mounted adjacent to the periphery of the rotor 3, means for urging the material to be disintegrated transversely toward the path of revolution of the cutters 4 and at an angle of substantially 45 relatively to a tangent at the point of contact of the cutters and the material, and a plurality of presser arms 5 for holdingthe slabs 15 which are be mg cut in proper position directly adjacent to the point of cutting. The rotor 3 and its supporting shaft 2 are rotatable at relatively high speedin a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 2.and 3, and is preferably enclosed by means of a removable cover 21 :which is detachably secured to the main frame 10. The presser arms 5 are pivotally attached to the cover 21 by means of a horizontal pivot 6 which is located on the side of the rotor 3 opposite tothe point of cutting, that is, above such point and forward of said point with reference to the direction of the feedto the machine. A portion of the weight of each arm 5 is counter-balanced by means of a suitable weight attached to a cord 26 coacting with a reversing sheave (not shown); With this arrangement of the elements, the presser fingers 9 of the arms 5 which directly engage the slabs 15 being disintegrated, are swingable for a considerable distance in close proximity to the path of revolution of the cutters 4. The arms 5 are by their excess weight held in contact with the material and the frictional engagement of the advancing material tends also to hold the arms in contact because the tendency, due to their being pivotally mounted on an axis located above and forwardly of the point of cutting, is to move the fingers 9 of thearms downwardly and forwardly. The portions of the arms adjacent to the holding fingers 9 thereof, are provided with curved surfaces 8 generated about the axis of the pivot 6 as a center, these surfaces 8 being engageable with guide roll- 15 ers 7 for the purpose of steadying the swinging extremities of the arms 5 against the thrust induced by the entering slabs 15. The adjacent fingers 9 of the arms 5 also have plane side surfaces coacting with each other in order to hold the arms 5 against lateral displacement. The front lower portions of the arms 5 are provided with inclined surfaces 25 the inclination of which is such that the advancing slabs 15 will automatically engage 25 and raise the engaged arms 5 so as to permit relatively free advancement of the slabs 15 toward the cutter path. The counter-balancing weights. attached to the cords 26 somewhat relieve and serve to adjust the degree 3e of'the direct downward pressure exerted by the relatively heavy arms 5 and permit ready raising of the arms 5 by the advancing slabs 15. j V

The feeding mechanism for positively adsa vancing the slabs 15 toward the rotor 3 comprises a series of horizontal feed rollers 11 mounted in bearings in the main frame 10 and simultaneously rotatable at the same speed in clockwise directions as viewed in 4 315;; .2. Above the feed rollers 11 is located a.seri'es of swingable brackets 14 pivotally mounted to swing about the axis of a shaft 23 and each carrying a set of intermeshing gears 13. and a feed wheel 12 operable by the gears 45,13. The brackets 14 are normally urged to swing aboutthesha ft 23 in a clockwise direction by the action of, gravity, such rotative tendency being counteracted by compression springs18 the upper ends of which coact with 59.,collars 19 associated with the. vertical con- 'necting rods 17. The brackets 14 are also provided with suitable guards 24 and with top plates which form protecting housings for the gears 13 andthe feed wheels 12. The gears 13and the feed wheels 12 are rotatable by means of suitable gearing operable simultaneously with the feed rollers 11 so that the feed wheel's 12will. rotate in counter-clockwise directions. 9. During normal operation of the machine the rotorb is being continuously rotated in a counter-clockwise direction at a relatively high rate of speed. The feed rollers 11 are rotating at a predetermined relatively low ;rate ofspeefd inaclockwise direction and the feed wheels 12 are being rotated at approximately the same peripheral speed as the rollers 11, in a counter-clockwise direction. Material in the form of slabs of variable thickness and width is then delivered to the feed rollers 11 which urge the slabs toward therotor 3 and the feed wheels 12. As the slabs 15 engage one or more of the feed wheels 12 these wheels are automatically elevated and rest upon the upper surface of the "slab, the rotation of the Wheel- 12 serving to assist the feed wheels 11 in urging the slab 15 toward the rotor 3 and preventing upward displacement of the slab. When the slab 15 engages the forward inclined surfaces of one or more of the presser arms 5, these arms are automatically elevated to permit theslab 15 to approach the path of revolution of the cutters 4 at an angle of relative to a tangent. The thrust induced upon the fingers 9 is counteracted by the rollers 7.. As the slabs v 15 are engaged by the rapidly'advancing cutters 4 they are reduced to chips 22 of proper size and shape which are delivered by gravity through the discharge opening formed in the main frame 10. As the advancement of a slab 15 continues the trailing end thereof eventually leaves the feed wheel 12 whereupon the presser fingers 9 automatically function to hold the slab end in engagement with the feed rollers 11 and to urge the material toward the cutters, thereby permittingeffective cutting of substantially the entire slab end into chips 22 of the desired size and shape.

It will be noted that the feed wheels 12 and the presser arms 5 automatically adjust themselves to accommodate slabs 15 of various thicknesses as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. The brackets 14 are automatically adjustable about the shaft 23 to permit proper. positioning of the feed wheel12, while the arms 5 are automatically adjustable about the pivot 6 to permit proper positioning of the fingers 9. The rollers 7. engaging the curved surfaces 8 of the arms5 serve to effectively guide the arms 5 and counteract the thrust induced therein, during automatic adjustment thereof by engagement of, the material with the inclined frontfaces 25 of the fingers 9. By arranging the brackets 14 and the arms 5 in series, a plurality of slabs of various widths may be simultaneously handled by the machine. a r

The removable hood 21 permits free're-' moval of the arms 5 and also permitsready access to the rotor 3 for adjustment of the blades 4. This hood 21 also serves as. a guard during normal operation of the machine'. The housing providedfor the gears 13- and feed wheel 12 likewise serves as a guard for protecting these elements and the operator. The entire machine is of extremely simple construction and is operable. with the crei penditure of a relatively small amount of power.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact details of construction and of operation herein shown and described, for various modifications within the scope of the claims may occur to persons skilled in the art.

It is claimed and desired to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In combination, a cutter movable about an axis, means for urging material toward the path of movement of said cutter, an arm pivotally supported near one portion of said path and engageable with the material near another portion, and thrust reaction means coacting with said arm between the said path portions for guiding and for resisting displacement of said arm into said path by the entering material.

2. In combination, a cutter revoluble about an axis, means for urging material toward the path of revolution of said cutter below said axis, an arm pivotally supported near a portion of said path above said axis and engageable with the material near another po r tion of said path below said axis, and a roller coacting with said arm at a point remote from the pivotal support thereof for guiding and for resisting displacement of said arm into said path by the entering material.

3. In combination, a cutter revoluble about an axis, means for urging material toward the path of revolution of said cutter, an arm pivotally supported near a portion of said path remote from said urging means and engageable with the material near said urging means, said arm having a surface facing said path and disposed adjacent to said urging means, and a roller coacting with said surface for guiding said arm and for resisting displacement thereof intosaid path by the material discharged from said urging means.

4. In a chipper, the combination of a cutter rotatable about an axis, means for urging material toward the path of rotation of said cutter, and a plurality of independently movable pivotally supported arms engageable with the material near the point of cutting of said cutter path, said arms being pivotally supported on an axis located above and forward of said point of cutting, whereby the material engaging portions of said arms are movable downwardly and forwardly in the direction of advancement of said material.

In testimony whereof, the signatures of the inventors are affixed hereto.

WILLIAM J. MERKEL.

ERNEST C. SHAW. 

